Frequently Asked Questions - PPRA

The Local Government Procurement Manual (2003) was prepared based on the Local Government (Selection and Employment of Consultants) Regulations, 2003 [GN. No. 48 of 2003] and the Local Government (Procurement of Goods and Works) Regulations, 2003 [GN. No. 49 of 2003]. These Regulations ceased to have any effect on 3rd August, 2007 when the Local Government Authorities Tender Boards [Establishment and Proceedings] Regulations were published in the Government Gazette through the GN. No. 177. Consequently, the Local Government Procurement Manual (2003) can no longer be applicable.

We (PPRA) are currently preparing the Procurement Manual that will be applicable to all Procuring Entities.

PPRA is not interfering with LGAs activities. PPRA was established under Section 5 of the Public Procurement Act No. 21 of 2004 (PPA) and performs the functions conferred upon it as provided under Section 7 of the PPA including to monitor compliance of Procuring Entities (including LGAs) to the Public Procurement Act and Regulations in order to ensure the application of fair, competitive, transparent, non – discriminatory and value for money procurement standards and practices.

Yes, foreign firms are allowed to participate in the tender when NCB method is used. This is pursuant to Regulation 66(1) of the GN. No. 97 and Regulation 33(1) of the GN. No. 98. The difference with the International Competitive Bidding (ICB) method is the mode of advertising tenders. While under NCB the tender notice is advertised in the United Republic of Tanzania only, the tender notice under ICB is supposed to be advertised within and outside the United Republic of Tanzania.

Bid securing declaration is supposed to be used where exclusive preference is applicable i.e. for works with values equal or less than Tshs 1 billion, goods with values equal or less than Tshs 200,000,000 and non-consultancy services with values equal or less than Tshs 250,000,000. This is pursuant to a circular we issued on 2nd July, 2007.

Where the Accounting Officer is not satisfied with the decision of the Tender Board he is supposed to return the decision to the Tender Board for review giving written reasons for the dissatisfaction and where not satisfied with the outcome of the review he may request for an independent review by PPRA stating in writing the reasons for disagreement. However, where Tender Board disagrees with the views of the Accounting Officer on its recommendations, it may request for independent advice from PPRA stating in writing the reasons for disagreements. This is pursuant to Regulation 37 of GN. No. 97 of 2005 and Regulation 91 of GN. No. 98 of 2005.

Procuring Entities are required under Section 45 of the PPA to plan their procurements in a rational manner and avoid emergency procurement wherever possible. However, if an Accounting Officer finds that it is in the public interest that goods or works ought to be procured as a matter of urgency, he/she shall evaluate the need, decide on the procurement method and procure goods or works in accordance with the method of procurement selected.

Immediately after the procurement, Accounting Officers (under MDAs) are required to present the unauthorized procurement to the Paymaster General for retrospective approval. This is pursuant to Regulation 42 of GN. No. 97 of 2005.

For LGAs, the Accounting Officers are required to report to the following Council Meeting and send the copy of the report to the Controller and Auditor General and the Regional Administrative Secretary explaining the reasons for departing from the ordinary course. This is pursuant to Regulation 30 of the Local Government Authorities Tender Boards [Establishment and Proceedings] Regulations of 2007.

It is not mandatory under the PPA to engage TBA as consultants in designing or supervising building works. Consulting firms which are partially or totally controlled by government or public authorities are eligible for public financed projects provided that their qualification and experience are suitable for the assignment under consideration. However, privileges, as well as other advantages such as tax exemptions and other facilities should be evaluated and neutralized in the cost comparison to ensure fair competition with other consulting firms.

Every procuring entity is required to carry out its own procurement in accordance with the provisions of the PPA and Procurement Regulations unless contracted out to another procuring entity or a procurement agent as provided under Regulation 32(1)(b) of GN. No. 97 of 2005.

The Accounting Officer, the Tender Board, the PMU, the User Department and the Evaluation Committee are required pursuant to Section 38 of the PPA to act independently in relation to their respective functions and powers. Therefore, members of the Tender Board or PMU Staff are not supposed to be included in the tender evaluation committees. PMU staff are required to review the recommendations by the evalution committee and submit to the Tender Board for adjudication.

However where the required skills or experience are not available within the procuring entity or where members are indisposed or have a conflict of interest, the procuring entity has been given an option under Section 37(5) of PPA to obtain members of the evaluation committee outside the procuring entity.

Pursuant to Regulation 59 of GN. No. 97 of 2005, all government owned vehicles are supposed to be repaired and serviced at appropriate government workshops or garages (in this case TEMESA). However, where the government workshop is unable to carry out the repair or maintenance due to non-availability of spare parts, technical know-how or other resource constraints or because the price offered by such workshop or garage is above the available market price, the procuring entity will obtain the same services from either one of the approved and authorized private garages or by competitive quotations from private garages offering the same services.

The Ministry of Infrastructure Development is supposed to keep an up-to-date list of private workshops or garages (through competitive tendering or pre-qualification) authorized to maintain and repair government – owned vehicles.

According to Section 54(3) of the Public Procurement Act No. 21 of 2004, lack of competition should not be determined solely on the basis of the number of tenderers. This means that the received tender should be opened and evaluated to determine whether the tender is responsive to the requirements in tender documents and the offer will provide value for money in terms of price, quality and delivery time having regard to set specifications and criteria.

PMIS (Procurement Management Information System) is a tool to facilitate exchanges of Information between PPRA and Procuring Entities (PEs) so that to support the System for Checking and Monitoring of Procurement activities.

There are different security measures in place to ensure that all data submitted is secure such as making use of usernames and passwords , setting up different user levels, roles and privileges ,firewalls etc .In addition to that ,the data submitted is regularly backed up and the backup copies are kept offsite